Page 25 of Caught Bear Handed (Sawtooth Security #3)
Chapter Twenty
Beau
I fought to open my eyes. I didn’t have the luxury of unconsciousness. Those bastards who ran us off the road could’ve followed us into this pit. I wouldn’t let them lay a finger or a paw on Kayla or Gigi.
Everything was dark, like we’d landed in hell. And everything hurt. My bear was absolutely begging me to come out and play, and by play, he meant fuck shit up, but my instincts told me to stay human.
“Gigi?” I called out. Everything was too quiet. Not a good sign.
“I’ve got her. She’s with me,” Kayla said, her voice weak. “She crawled onto my lap just before… Sweet moon, are you okay? You’re bleeding.”
I looked down, not seeing blood anywhere, but then I became aware of the cool wetness just above my brow. I touched the spot cautiously, but it didn’t hurt. Probably wasn’t a great sign. Neither was the head-shaped dent in the windshield.
“I have to be.” I fumbled with the seat belt, freeing myself so I could survey the situation. “What about you?”
“I think Gigi protected me from the worst of it. It’s gonna hurt like hell in the morning. She’s tense, but she’s not crying. I think she’s okay.” She winced, and I was willing to bet it hurt like hell right now. “Why can’t we see anything?”
“Fuck, the truck is overheating.” Or worse, the engine caught fire. “Get out now.”
No surprise, Kayla was in shock, and moving in maddeningly sluggish motion. Or my brain had slowed way down. Again, neither were good signs. The air felt thick as I helped her unhook her seatbelt, then climbed over her and Gigi to open the door.
It wasn’t an easy step down, but I had to get them both out of this truck and assess what the damage was before we made our next move.
All our possessions—clothes, tech, and other necessities—had been hastily packed into the backseat.
In retrospect, probably a mistake not to have someone else bring at least some of our things.
Of course our enemies followed us if they’d waltzed onto our property undetected.
And no doubt they’d stick around to see the fruits of their labor.
I peered up, awed and angered by the massive expanse of rock and wilderness between where we were and the road we’d been pushed from.
If Barrett and Bellamy were correct in their assessment that our culprit was a shifter, then they could be watching us at this moment from an up close and personal vantage point.
Are you sure you want to stay human? my bear asked.
I didn’t have time to argue with him as I got my mate and my dog away from the truck.
Kayla was moving slowly, still holding on to Gigi like she didn’t want to let her go.
That, at least, was a good thing. I had no idea where her leash was at this point, and even though she had excellent recall, no one reacted well to this level of chaos.
I guided them to a flat rock and motioned for Kayla to sit. Then I went back to the truck.
“Beau,” she cautioned. “Be careful. Please.”
I turned back to her. Those big brown eyes were wide and borderline feral, like she was having the same inner battle with her wolf as I was with my bear. I didn’t see any blood on her skin, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt.
The injuries we couldn’t see could be the worst.
Gigi squirmed in her arms, and she murmured to her, comforting her. I wanted nothing more than to take them both in my arms and not let go, but that wouldn’t do jack shit to protect them from what was happening.
Smoke plumed from the ruined hood of the truck.
The entire front end looked like it had been bent in half, and getting the hood open would be nearly impossible.
Getting down on my hands and knees made me feel like I’d aged fifty years in that accident, but it was worth it when I determined there weren’t any flames.
It gave us a minute, and that was probably a gross overestimation.
The back door was still functional, and I pulled all our stuff out.
There was no way we’d be able to carry everything.
I didn’t care about anything of mine except for Gigi’s bed, food, and water dish. Thankfully, I found her leash. I grabbed the bag with the sat phone and our laptops.
“If you brought anything with sentimental value, grab it,” I said, motioning to Kayla’s bag. “Otherwise, I suggest leaving it behind and going shopping once we know the coast is clear.”
Kayla didn’t say anything as I hooked the leash to Gigi’s harness. Kayla released her grip on Gigi’s body, but Gigi wasn’t ready to leave her.
“Come on, girl,” I coaxed, but held my breath as Kayla rose from the rock. She closed her eyes as she stood, and then blinked rapidly like she was trying to remember what she was doing. None of this was good. I needed to get her to safety now.
She opened her bag, pulling things out, and I fished my cell phone out of my bag with my free hand. We weren’t that far outside of Granger Falls, so we should’ve had service. But we didn’t.
Hoping we weren’t too far down in this ditch for the satellite phone to work, I looked up, thankful to see the sky. That was theoretically all we needed for it to connect.
I flipped up the antenna, and the screen lit up blue. Searching for network. The message shouldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds. Time was moving strangely, but the network didn’t want to be found.
Gigi barked, like she was just as frustrated as I was.
“What is it, girl?”
She looked up at me and wagged her tail.
“Yeah, I know we need to get a move on.” I turned to check Kayla’s progress.
She had left a pile of her belongings on the ground and had the remainder slung cross-body.
Good. She was still thinking somewhat clearly.
“We don’t have any signal down here, so I’m gonna try to navigate us to a place where we can at least get in touch with Barrett and Bellamy. ”
She cocked a brow. “Are you sure the signal hasn’t been cut? That accident…was no accident.”
“Fuck. I should’ve thought of that.” But I wasn’t willing to admit the gash on my head was anything more serious than a cut.
“You’re right. No matter what, we can’t stay here.
We’ll head north. This range doesn’t stay high altitude for long.
The road is more flat and open. We’ll head north, stay hidden as much as possible.
Look for shelter. If I’m remembering correctly, there should be an old fire watch post near here. If anything happens, shift.”
I started walking. My mind raced with all the possible scenarios.
The top priority was getting to a place where we could contact backup.
If Kayla was right and the signal had been jammed, there was only so long it could last. Unless it had been targeted to this spot—to force us to do exactly what we were doing.
They already knew we were headed north. So it was possible we were playing into their hands beautifully and walking toward a trap.
We could go south, back toward town, but the terrain was too treacherous, and there would be too many hikers.
One could argue safety in numbers, but I didn’t want to put innocent humans in the line of fire.
“This is our territory for the volunteer fire department,” I said, talking for the sake of talking to keep both of us in the game. Kayla was too quiet for my liking. After spending twenty-four-seven with this woman for weeks, I knew Kayla Mitchell was a fighter.
I needed her to keep fighting.
“In fire season, we take turns in the watch cabins,” I continued. “Not all of them are in commission anymore, since technology can do a lot of the work so we can do the things it can’t. Some of them have some old comm equipment that should be able to get a signal out.”
“What kind of equipment?” Kayla asked.
“Old ham radios. It’s amazing that they still work after all these years.” I chuckled, hoping it covered up the grimace. Bolts of pain ran down my leg.
It’s only a matter of time before you can shift…
“Would Barrett and Bellamy be able to receive a message from that old tech?” It was an excellent question.
“Fuck.” I had to say, Kayla was thinking more clearly than I was. At least one of us had their wits about them. “They’d have to have it on, which they might if they realized we’re missing, and tuned to the right frequency.”
“So the odds aren’t zero,” she said.
“Pretty close.” The sun was starting to go down.
We still had time before dark, but we had to focus, and I had no room for any more mistakes, under the best circumstances.
The light had softened, and the air had cooled.
The nights got surprisingly chilly this deep into the mountains, even in July it could dip pretty close to freezing, depending on the elevation.
We weren’t prepared for those kinds of temperatures, but the cabin should have what we need.
“I promise you, I’ll get us out of this, Kayla. ”
Her lips parted. “You mean, you think there’s a scenario where we don’t get out of this?”
Shit. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her. But I had to find a way to be honest about the situation without making her think I’d lost control. “I’m not sure what we’re up against right now.”